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‘Skyscrapers are an absurdity’ says Architects Declare in open letter to CTBUH

2022-11-24T13:18:00-05:00

Architects Declare has published an open letter to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, setting out the group’s position on the environmental cost of skyscrapers. The letter, published on the Architects Declare website, was originally sent to CTBUH in July but has now been made public after the group claims not to have received any response.

“The evidence now is overwhelming that tall buildings hinder, rather than assist, our efforts to address key challenges of climate breakdown, resource depletion and biodiversity loss,” the letter reads. “Today, UK Architects Declare is therefore calling on CTBUH to transform its register of ‘The World’s Tallest Buildings’ and shift its focus from a fixation on height to the other part of its mission, Urban Habitats. and crucially address critical environmental challenges.”

The letter claims that CTBUH’s register of tall building...

Norman Foster unveils San Marino Declaration of sustainability principles ahead of COP27

2022-10-04T17:40:00-04:00

Norman Foster is in San Marino this week to present what he says is a new set of sustainable urban design principles to the 83rd meeting of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s Committee on Urban Development, Housing, and Land Management.

The so-called San Marino Declaration appears as a sort of guidebook around which architects and urban planners can build cities that are “climate-neutral, safer, more inclusive, and resilient.” In it, a set of eleven interrelated principles are floated for universal adaptation based on past actions and directives taken by the UN Secretary-General that carry broad and direct implications to the built environment and ascending migration of populations into urban centers across the globe.

Previously on Archinect: At COP26, Norman Foster speaks about the primacy of cities in the fight against climate change

Speaking to Dezeen recently, Foster compared the plan to the Hippocratic Oath Western medical professionals typically sign, adding th...

At COP26, Norman Foster speaks about the primacy of cities in the fight against climate change

2021-11-04T13:58:00-04:00

Norman Foster’s commentary on urbanism is in the news cycle once again after the architect made an appearance in Glasgow as part of this week’s United Nations COP26 climate summit.

The comments roiled many in the social media universe, who pointed to Foster’s continued insistence on airport design and penchant for high-profile projects in oil economies that for many betray whatever claims the architect might make in regards to his own personal environmentalism.

Foster was participating in a question-and-answer breakfast with U.S. climate envoy John Kerry for an audience of worldwide mayors moderated by Glasgow’s own city council leader Susan Aitken.

Speaking with the former Secretary of State, Foster, who made waves recently after a terse appearance on Bloomberg Television in September in which the architect doubled down on his decision to withdraw from Architects Declare a scant 18 months after its founding, said that Covid has accelerated several already-ascendant trends such a...

RIBA and Architects Declare announce program for Built Environment Summit 2021

2021-10-08T16:31:00-04:00

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), in partnership with Architects Declare, has announced the program for the Built Environment Summit 2021, a two-day, partially in-person conference taking place on October 28 and 29, 2021.

The event comes following the publication of RIBA and Architects Declare’s Built for the Environment report, that details the role industry has and must have in tackling the climate crisis. The summit also arrives ahead of COP26 in Glasgow, which starts on November 1.

As stated by RIBA, “The summit is a call to action, bringing together professionals from across the international built environment sector to address the urgent need to drive changes in behaviour to reduce carbon emissions. We cannot meet the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C temperature rise limit above pre-industrial levels without transforming the way we plan, design, build, operate, and adapt our built environment.”

Norman Foster digs in on his stance on airport emissions

2021-09-03T16:26:00-04:00

I would argue that everything has a footprint, and in relative terms, the carbon footprint of air travel is relatively small. That does not mean it shouldn’t be addressed, but I do feel passionately that we have to address the infrastructure of mobility.

Norman Foster's airport projects have drawn in an increasing amount of business for the 54-year-old firm in the last two decades. Foster went as far last year as to withdraw the firm from Architects Declare, the group his firm joined the year prior to promote a broader set of climate change discussions in the industry.

Foster compared the impacts of air travel to the magnitudes larger footprint caused by meat production. The Pritzker-winning architect's full comments can be viewed in the Bloomberg video below.

Zaha Hadid Architects severs ties with Architects Declare, following Foster + Partners

2020-12-03T11:29:00-05:00

In just two days, Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) becomes the second Architects Declare co-founder to leave the advocacy group, following Foster + Partners' withdrawal yesterday.

In a statement released by Architects' Journal, ZHA said that "climate change is a defining challenge of our generation," and that the practice is committed to developing solutions. However, ZHA says it is time to recognize its "significant difference of opinion with the Architects Declare steering group on how positive change can be delivered."

Below is the full statement from Zaha Hadid Architects, published earlier today by Architects' Journal:

Climate change is a defining challenge of our generation and Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) is committed to developing solutions.

We embed sustainability into the design, procurement, construction and operations of the projects we are delivering, and we work hard to build integrated client/contractor/design team relationships that can maximise opportunities to improve s...

Foster + Partners withdraws from Architects Declare over aviation dispute

2020-12-02T13:15:00-05:00

One of the UK’s most famous architects has withdrawn from an environmental coalition in a dispute about the destructive role of aviation in the escalating climate crisis. [...] The decision follows a row over Foster and Partners’ work on airports around the world – seen by critics as incompatible with tackling the climate and ecological emergency.

Airport designs have been key projects in Foster + Partners' portfolio for years, with prominent recent commissions and competition entries in Saudi Arabia, Marseille, Chicago, Mexico City, and Beijing.

Following Foster's decision to withdraw from his initial commitment, Architects Declare issued following statement on its website today:

We are disappointed that Foster + Partners has chosen to withdraw from the declarations and we would welcome a conversation with them on the points raised.

We recognise that addressing the climate and biodiversity emergencies challenges current practice and business models for us all, not least around the expansion of aviation. We believe that what is needed is system change and that can only come about through collective action. Architects Declare is not a ‘protest’ movement but a collaborative support network to innovate positive transformation. Our movement is global. As of today there are 1037 UK practices committed to the declaration and over 6...

Architecture schools continue to join the fight against climate change

2020-11-02T15:43:00-05:00

Previously on Archinect, we reported the announcement of three architecture schools pledging climate action. Since then, two more schools of architecture have joined. On October 30th, US Architects Declare confirmed that Woodbury School of Architecture and the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee SARUP have become the latest schools to join.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by US Architects Declare (@architectsdeclare_us) on Oct 30, 2020 at 12:33pm PDT

Now at 329 signatures, US Architects Declare continues to spread the movement and encourage "all built-environment/construction-industry" professionals and students to join.

To expand on climate action and bring forward the work of organizations and individuals leading the charge against climate change, don't miss Archinect's two-part series Architects take Climate Action! For this series, architect and writer Hannah Wood features interviews with architecture activist groups established since 2016, practit...

Tulane School of Architecture, Fay Jones School, and Carnegie Mellon University are the first academic institutions to sign on US Architects Declare

2020-10-07T18:57:00-04:00

In the summer of 2020, U.S.-based practices took action and signed on to join the international pledge for climate action. With the U.S. Architects Declare movement growing since May and over 284 signatures added to the list, three architecture institutions have signed on to the movement.

Recently published on Archinect, Architects take Climate Action! Archinect talks climate emergency activism with built environment groups taking a stand

Tulane School of Architecture, Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, and Carnegie Mellon University School of Architecture are the first architecture programs to sign on to U.S. Architects Declare pledge. A movement initially starting in May 2019 in the U.K., firms, and studios worldwide have pledged their efforts to fight climate change and biodiversity issues.

U.S. Architects Declare is led by a group of volunteer architects and designers throughout the country. Their site states, "All built-environment/construction-industry professionals ...

Norman Foster draws heat from climate activists for Saudi airport commission

2020-07-13T19:02:00-04:00

Climate-conscious architects in the United Kingdom are speaking out against British architect Norman Foster as efforts to have architects disengage from air transport projects intensify.

Last week, Archinect reported news of a high profile airport commission taken on by Foster + Partners for a privatized luxury resort in Saudi Arabia. News of the firm's latest airport project, there are over a dozen listed on the firm's website, was met by climate activists with derision, however.

Previously on Archinect: "Foster + Partners share new design for geometric mirrored airport in Saudi Arabia." Screenshot via AMAALAyoutube channel.

In a recently published blog post, the Architects Climate Action Network (ACAN), one of the main backers behind the Architects Declare movement, calls out Foster's ongoing engagement with airport projects as part of a larger effort geared toward forcing signatories of the Architects Declare pledge, of which Foster + Partners is one, to adhere to the commitments...

U.S. architects join international pledge for climate action

2020-05-27T20:21:00-04:00

The Architects Declare movement has spread across the globe as over 20 countries have joined the fight to address climate change and biodiversity issues. The United States has announced its pledge to join. With 92 signatures collected from U.S.-based architecture practices like Perkins Eastman, Inaba Williams, SHAUM/SHEIH, and many more have expressed their commitment to taking action.

Although the current COVID-19 pandemic and other political and economic issues have made headlines these past few months, the architecture industry has made its mark during the crisis. With the battle to mitigate climate change still ever-present, the United States has finally joined the fight.

Initially launched in May 2019 in the U.K., Architects Declare aims to use the voices of architects to "galvanize the profession and provide a platform for advocacy and for sharing information and strategies for change." Initiated by NY-based non-profit The Architectural League, the U.S. branch of Architects ...

Foster + Partners publishes a sustainability manifesto at COP25

2019-12-06T18:00:00-05:00

London-based architecture practice Foster + Partners recently announced its goal to "outline a holistic sustainable approach" towards its projects as a way to measure "embodied and operational carbon in each project." Aiming to use their international stature and design prowess to catalyze the awareness and application of sustainable design principles, the firm outlines their commitment to the goals of the Paris Agreement below.

"Over the last five years, drawing on the practice’s experience, expertise and in collaboration with others, Foster + Partners has created a unique system that can effectively determine carbon emissions at every project stage. This process gives greater insight into the different aspects that affect the environmental impact of a project and provides tools to mitigate and lower their carbon content.

As part of the COP25, the practice has been invited to present this methodology and tools by UNFCCC, UN Environment and the European Commission at their respectiv...

German architects, including GRAFT, Kéré, join global climate emergency declaration

2019-11-22T14:03:00-05:00

Architects from around the world are continue to sign onto the Architects Declare Climate & Biodiversity Emergency call.

The most recent national delegation to join the call comes from Germany, where at least 38 firms—including GRAFT, Kéré Architecture, Max Dudler, and ACME—have pledged to "strengthening our ways of working so that architecture and urbanism can emerge that have a more positive impact on our world."

The German group joins architects in Australia, the UK, and New Zealand, among others, in calling for the transformation of the building industry and architectural education toward environmentally just focuses.

Included among the many demands the groups are making is a push for transforming design to become "more regenerative" so that designers can create "an architecture and urbanism that goes beyond zero-carbon standards."

New Zealand architects join international climate emergency declaration

2019-09-28T15:00:00-04:00

New Zealand architects have had enough. With the effects of climate change impacting the globe, several nations have declared an urgent international climate emergency. After UK architects issued the Architects Declare initiative in May 2019, several other countries such as Italy, Norway, Canada, and Australia have joined the movement.

According to New Zealand's ArchitectureNow publication, "The declaration takes the form of an open letter and states, The twin crises of climate breakdown and biodiversity loss are the most serious issue of our time. Buildings and construction play a major part, accounting for nearly 40 per cent of energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions whilst also having a significant impact on our natural habitats."

Banding together architects express their efforts to make changes that will help reinforce better design practices, the open letter urges architects to work with their clients to states “commission and design buildings, cities and infrastructures...

Canadian Architects sign on to international climate action pact

2019-09-20T15:25:00-04:00

The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada’s (RAIC) Committee on Regenerative Environments is calling on the country's architects to join architects from around the world in formally committing "urgent and sustained" climate action.

The call makes Canadian architects the latest group to take up the climate call, a growing movement that seeks to instill a sense of immediate action on issues relating to sustainability and climate justice through the work architects take on and the role designers play within communities and in business.

The pledge calls on architects to "design for holistic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and advocate for investments in a rapid transition to resilient climate-positive alternatives," for example. It also pushes them to "adopt regenerative design principles and practices to build the necessary capability to design and develop projects and environments that go beyond the standard of net zero in use."

The call also embraces a structural change a...

What would the world look like if climate was at the center of design?

2019-09-06T19:00:00-04:00

In a recent article in The Guardian, architecture critic Rowan Moore asks, "So what would architecture look like–more importantly, what would it be–if all involved really and truly put climate at the centre of their concerns?"

It's true, the architecture profession has created a fantasized perception that every architect aims to not only become a rising star, but also a designer who can "change the world." However, as Moore points out, with the ongoing climate crisis looming across the globe, architects have exactly that possibility in front of them if they approach design fundamentally from an environment-first perspective. What would the built environment that results look like? How will this transformation re-shape our use of building materials like concrete and steel?

"What is considered sustainable differs wildly depending on who you ask," Moore writes, "The World Green Building Council, an organization supported by members from the construction industry, holds up the seeming...

AIA embraces a pro-climate agenda

2019-09-05T13:00:00-04:00

The leadership of the American Institute of Architects organization has officially signed off on an ambitious climate agenda that was proposed during the organization's annual meeting in Las Vegas.

The so-called "Resolution for Urgent and Sustained Climate Action," introduced at the meeting by Betsy del Monte, an architect with Dallas-based Cameron MacAlister, aims to "prioritize and support urgent climate action to exponentially accelerate the 'decarbonization' of buildings, the building sector, and the built environment."

In addition, del Monte's resolution aims to craft new revisions to the AIA's collection of Public Policies and Position Statements in an effort to "engage its full membership, clients, lawmakers, and communities in a multi-year education, practice, and advocacy strategy."

Remarking on the organization's official ratification of the climate resolution, 2019 AIA President William Bates, wrote in a press release, “This is a defining moment for the Institute,” addi...

Australian architects declare climate and biodiversity emergency

2019-07-31T16:30:00-04:00

For everyone working in the construction industry, meeting the needs of our society without breaching the earth’s ecological boundaries will demand a paradigm shift in our behaviour. Together with our clients, we will need to commission and design buildings, cities and infrastructures as indivisible components of a larger, constantly regenerating and self-sustaining system.

Australian architects are joining an international declaration recognizing the existence of a global environmental and biodiversity climate emergency.

Stating that "the research and technology exist for us to begin that transformation now, but what has been lacking is collective will," the architects seek to "advocate for faster change in our industry towards regenerative design practices," "establish climate and biodiversity mitigation principles as the key measure of our industry’s success," and "upgrade existing buildings for extended use as a more carbon efficient alternative to demolition," among other goals.

The founding signatories include: ARM Architecture, Koning Eizenberg Architecture, Taylor and Hinds Architects, and Woods Bagot.

The Australian rally comes as the Royal Institute of British Architects also joins the international declaration. In June, the American Institute of Architects passed its own resolution calling for "urgent and sustained climate action."

...

RIBA joins international Climate Emergency Declaration

2019-07-03T14:50:00-04:00

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has agreed to join a global declaration acknowledging the existence of an environmental and climate emergency.

In recent months, New York City, the Vatican, the city of Vancouver, and the government of Ireland, among some 700 additional jurisdictions and governments, have joined the call for "an immediate emergency mobilization to restore a safe climate" around the world.

In a statement announcing the declaration, RIBA President Ben Derbyshire said, “The climate emergency is the biggest challenge facing our planet and our profession," adding, "The implementation of a five-year action plan we have committed to today will ensure we are able to benchmark change and evaluate the actions that make most impact.”

RIBA's announcement comes as the organization works to implement its Ethics and Sustainable Development Commission action plan, a framework that aims to support the United Nations's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The A...